Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/578491
WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT WEDNESDAY EDITION WEDNESDAY • 30 September 2015 • iSSue 435 • publiShed every wedneSday and Sunday €1.00 EDITORIAL PAGE 10 Newspaper post Identity Malta change prompted 'exodus' of civil service heads Amalgamation of identity registries under government agency saw departmental heads leaving and being replaced by persons-of-trust THE establishment of Identity Malta, a government agency that took over the operations of vari- ous government departments that dealt with identity management, prompted the departure of vari- ous civil servants that formerly headed individual departments. Over the course of two years, Identity Malta presided over a sea change in heads of depart- ment who were either asked to be transferred or else were detailed to other roles. Their replacements often came with a political pedigree. Identity Malta's establishment was one of Labour's first legisla- tive acts, taking under its wing the Individual Investor Programme, the land and public registries, the passport and civil registration of- fices, the identity management office, and the citizenship and expatriate affairs office. But its executive chairman Joe Vella Bonnici's management since his political appointment in 2013 may have produced some collateral damage, namely with career civil servants moving out from under Identity Malta's em- ploy. The director-general of the pub- lic registry, Dr Stephanie Pappal- ardo, was after July 2014 detailed to other duties in the ministry of home affairs. Ermelinda Zahra, director of the public registry, was boarded out in 2014, while Dr Keith Ger- man, assistant director to the land and public registries, asked for a transfer in May 2014. Under Identity Malta, these roles were taken by Joseph Vas- sallo as Chief Officer Opera- tions. The passport office, whose di- rector in 2014 was Gaetano Vella, is today run by Amanda Mifsud, who is director of passport and civil registration. She was ap- pointed on a person-of-trust ba- sis by the Labour administration. She is also the partner of family minister Michael Farrugia. PAGE 7 Galdes silent over BirdLife 'intimidation' by regulator TIM DIACONO ANIMAL rights parliamentary secretary Roderick Galdes has kept silent in the face of serious allegations that the state's Wild Birds Regulation Unit is trying to prevent BirdLife Malta from ex- posing illegal hunting. WBRU head Sergei Golovkin e- mailed BirdLife last week to warn that the NGO isn't covered by the Director of Veterinary Services' authorisation to keep any living or dead birds or to euthanize injured birds. As such, he claimed that BirdLife are breaking the law. BirdLife accused the WBRU of intimidating their officials in an attempt to silence the organisa- tion from exposing the impact of illegal hunting. MaltaToday sent questions to Galdes on 21 September about whether he agrees with Golovkin's interpretation of the law, but he has failed to respond at the time of writing despite numerous re- minders. Should Galdes disagree with Golovkin's interpretation of the law, it would risk creating a sense of confusion about the running of the WBRU, whose offices are located within Galdes' own secre- tariat. However, should he agree with Golovkin, it would heavily contradict his own handover of a Buskett farmhouse to BirdLife to be used as a bird rehabilitation centre. "The project aims to render obsolete the practice of putting down birds that are slightly in- jured," Galdes had said at the handover in July. Opposition MP Charlo Bonnici has called for a "reasonable solu- tion" that would allow BirdLife to treat injured birds. "Although the law prohibits the possession of protected birds, it is clear that the intention of the leg- islator was not to stop people from caring for birds," Bonnici, the PN's spokesperson for hunting, told MaltaToday. "In my opinion, we should try to find a reasona- ble solution through which other authorised competent entities and individuals, besides the gov- ernment vet, are involved in the treatment of injured birds, ideally using the same protocol. "In all this, we should ensure that all involved act in the best in- terests of the bird." However, he added that the WBRU's concerns when e-mailing BirdLife were to discover the lo- cation of injured and dead birds, so that police can make immedi- ate on-site inquiries to catch the law-breaking hunter. In a recent case instigated by hunting federation FKNK, four BirdLife members were charged in court over the illegal posses- sion of dead birds. The case was thrown out of court in June, with a magistrate ruling that BirdLife carries out such work in the best interest of birds. Animal rights parliamentary secretary Roderick Galdes